Some people are entertainers by nature, they love the attention and enjoy interacting with others. These extroverts will be in jobs like sales, stand-up comedy, etc. They are fun to be around and make for great party guests; their downside is that they have an almost insatiable craving for attention.
You will find the exact same personality type in the horse world – and boy do we ever have one in our herd. Our Frisian cross gelding, Odin, of almost 2 years of age is the stereotypical attention seeker/looking-for-trouble in lieu of entertainment.
The main traits of this horse personality are that, besides your unyielding attention, they need to be given a job. They make for lousy lawn ornaments – would probably pluck every petal of every flower in your garden, just because.
Odin loves his training sessions; you can almost hear the cogs turning in his brain when he is introduced to a new task. Once he understands what is required of him, he will do it with ease and confidence. If you “over train” – meaning repeat too many times after he understands – he will get board and start chewing on anything handy. The trick is to get his attention, teach him the lesson, and stop just before he loses focus and thus interest.
When I take my dressage horse into the stable to tack for riding, I usually put Odin in his stall and close the door. I he is left loose in the stable, he will interfere in everything I do to prepare Tesse for our ride. He will try to get her attention by pulling her tail, then he will take the grooming brushes and run off with them. Therefore, I have decided that it is in the best interest of all that Odin is kept in his stall while I tack Tesse up. If not, Odin ever the prankster will go into the broom closet size tack room and see if he can try on any of the tack.
Sometimes when he gets board, Odin will walk around the stable looking for new things to try. He has learned how to open a stable latch by using his front hooves! The typical Frisian front legs come out in him when things need to be done. He figured out how to open the stable door and let the little Quarter Horse girls out. And no, I had nothing to do with that lesson 😊
If you ask Odin to do something, he will look at you and say, “why?”. Be prepared to explain clearly to him what he should do and reward him for doing it. This understanding has made him such an easy horse to train, even though he is still so young and silly.
You might be asking what Odin is learning at the ripe age of almost 2: he is learning to lead properly with a halter and lead rope; he is learning to move away from hand pressure on his side, which is the first lesson that will lead him to understanding leg aids when ridden. I also train walk/stop using verbal cues as I find this very useful once a rider is on board.
Odin is also learning to wear a girth and will also get a bit and bridle on this week. He will not have a rider on his back until he is well into his third year. All the ground work we do with him now will pay off when the time comes for him to be ridden. The big question is what carrier does Odin want to pursue when he grows up? Will it be a circus clown? A comedian or luxury car sales agent? – thinking of his fine Frisian front leg action, I think a Ferrari car dealership would hire him 😊
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